A.N: Results of the poll came out to basically be equal in all three options. So I guess I won’t eliminate the idea of incorporating the 1^st person POV…it’ll pop up every now and then later on, but to a much less extent as before.

Again, thanks for subscribing and commenting^^

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He quickened his pace, putting those long legs to work as he searched for his friend down the maze of their new living complex. He questioned how Kyuhyun had successfully disappeared despite barely getting a head start of merely a second or two.

Was he that distracted to be caught in her charms and lose the foot race to his friend? But Changmin was damn fast and was always able to catch up when it came to such physical escapades.

He wondered if he had figured it out, if his act was busted. Did Kyuhyun find out about their history?

Changmin wasn’t ready to lose out on a friendship, especially one in which the other person basically depicted more or less himself in the form of another body.

For a long time, Changmin had grown accustomed to the solitary confinement of his quiet life that consisted of only himself. After being estranged with Sooyoung from their breakup, he had found himself drowning in a murky hole of loneliness in which he would seek comfort by switching on a fake façade of being a hot-shot-I-run-the-ing-world persona mastered by a face he had called his own. It was a character he perfectly played that magnetically attracted the females his way upon his command of a cocked eyebrow. He was mother ing gorgeous from head to toe and he learned how to master this blessing as a craft.

And although they had barely known each other for only a few months now, Changmin valued the friend he sought in Kyuhyun. It was the sense of acceptance from the other that he cherished. While he would burp the first half of the alphabet, the other would end it to a perfect loud belch of Z. Together, they had formed their own language incomprehensible to anyone but themselves.

He pulled out his phone buried inside his pocket when he failed to spot his equally lanky friend in the endless maze of hallways he had been circling. His once filled mind of worries for his dear brother of a friend diminished once he began to punch numbers onto the keypad. The idea of her once again poked its way into his thoughts. It was strange though, her ability to unravel the knots of his thoughts that accumulated in his mind. He drifted back moments ago to when he penned down his corny message, embarrassed by his childlike behaviour that often surfaced before her. He was convinced that Sooyoung would laugh at it and think nothing more but it being a joke.

But that simply wasn’t the case. It was simple, but all the while important.

Changmin frowned upon the idea of his message being brushed off and pushed to the corner.

Fallen into his warped world of worries and concerns, she noticed his frozen figure as she turned the corner. She ran towards him with light feet before playfully nudging him from behind. He wobbled like a bowling pin ready to hit the ground before she grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him back up.

He smiled stupidly at the sense of her touch. He couldn’t help himself but to do so. He wasn’t expecting her to run after him, but maybe he didn’t credit himself enough for his one of a kind message he had left her. Changmin straightened himself upward ironing himself until he stood to a crisp straight line. Quickly, he wiped that idiotic smile off his face and mustered up the conclusion to play it cool when in fact his insides were jumping for joy. He turned around slowly, hoping to give off the glamorous slow-motion effect seen in movies; the effect in which the girl never fails to swoon over.

“Changmin-ah~” Her voice was cheery, sweet, and energetic but it ended up not being hers.

“Oh anyohaseyo,” He waved uneasily before squirming out from her grip. He tried desperately not to show any drop of dissatisfaction in the turn of events, but disappointment continued to sit atop his shoulders.

“Did you just move in too?” She poked him at the side while giggling. She was definitely a happy person; no one could argue otherwise.

“Uh neh..just this morning.” He stared at her with eyes of a deer caught in headlights. He still was unfamiliar with who she was.

“Song Qian. Victoria!” She said ecstatically with raised hands as if she read his mind. Truth was that she somewhat knew all to well of that disturbed confused face that he wore. It was after all, a face she often saw in the past.

==========

FLASHBACK

The bell rung like a high pitched piercing scream throughout the school.

Victoria ran towards class, a smile danced along her lips as it was the highlight of her day, for she would see him. She bounced off her chair, her head bobbing up and down as she scanned her eyes throughout the crowd of peers. The familiar scrunched dishevelled hair of Shim Changmin was no where to be found.

She wondered how long he would waste away. Ever since that one day, he had turned into a living corpse. It had become a regular scene for her to witness his lifeless body floating around the school premises, eyes sunken and limbs dangling as he drifted here and there.  It was the scandal of the year or rather the century, at least for the small town Jeju Island school. There was endless chatter of the incident of Sooyoung’s sudden disappearance. No one quite knew where she had gone off to or why, but what was evident was the remains she left behind rotted away---Changmin, clear evidence of the aftermath.  

Victoria watched the empty seat collect dust as he often spontaneously found disinterest in coming to class. His attendance soon became a game of hookey.

Would he ditch today or would he decide to stay?

The latter proved to be a rare case. Although accustomed to his disappearance, her curiosity about him was stronger and she just couldn’t handle the empty answers anymore. In her hands, she collected all her belongings and sneaked out of class, for without him there it no longer was a period to look forward to. She wandered the halls aimlessly, carefully hunched down and diving in the cracks of anywhere that provided a hidden space. That’s when she saw him. He was walking crookedly, hands tightly holding his backpack like a fragile child. He made his way to the staircase, headed straight up to the roof.     

She followed him without his knowledge, watching him from a close distance, counting the number of times he sipped on the bottle of sour bitter taste of burning liquid inside the paper bag. It crushed her, how his smile she promised to always remember seemingly disappeared. How the hands that were used to perfectly capture timeless scenery that foretold a beautiful story for photography class soon replaced itself with a bottle of alcohol he had somehow managed to successfully smuggle.

Victoria flinched when he suddenly threw the now emptied bottle against the ledge of the school, her body jumping back against the door. Her secret of quietly watching him was now exposed as the sound of her startled actions caught his attention. He turned around picked himself up and began to track his way towards the stunned bystander, wind blowing through the strands of his crumpled hair.

“I-uh-didn’t-”

“Shh~” Changmin shook his head while placing a finger lightly against her lips.

“We broke up didn’t we? I heard you moved…amongst other crazy things. Why are you here again?” He was slurring his words, but his stare kept itself fixated on her, eyes disturbed and confused.

Victoria knew she had been mistaken, but she couldn’t quite find the words to correct him. Maybe she secretly didn’t want to as this was the very first time she was able to see every detail upon his face. But she could also smell the alcohol that blew from his every breath.

“Sooyoungie~” This time it came out clear.

He drew himself closer toward her, a devilish smile slid its way along his mouth.

Honestly, it scared her as much as it attracted her, but the latter was a much stronger feeling.

She closed her eyes and played along. She liked it, she really did.

But she never told anyone about her feeling or about the events that took place, about the several drunken days she often found him and role played as the infamous Choi Sooyoung who he loved whole heartedly.

It was all left untold.

==========

“You still do that face huh?”

“That face?” He scrunched his eyebrows and stared at her a little more.

“That one…right there!” She laughed while pointing at him.

Victoria enjoyed the fact that she was able to recognize it still, something in which she claimed to belong to her. Her cheeks grew to a crimson shade of red.

“Thank you,” she quietly whispered.

Changmin stood there without a clue as to what to do or say.

“Thank you for helping me out back then…with the audition and all. Call me if anything.”

Call me if anything

It was a reapperance of his own words he had used. He couldn’t help but wonder once more about Sooyoung as if she was the only concern his mind ever thought about. Unconsciously, his hand began to fiddle with his pocket searching for his mobile phone, but to no luck. He drew his eyes to the floor wondering if he had dropped it during his shaken act when Victoria had surprised him. Nothing.

Nearby hidden behind the corner was a sneaky stupid child with a snarky smile plastered along his face. Kyuhyun had always been successful when it came to hide and seek and that day it was no different. He was in high spirits when they left Sooyoung’s and had figured what better way to spill out his satisfaction than fooling around with his chingu. He had planned on keeping the game going on for a short while, wanting Changmin to hopefully cry out for his name in a truce, but it never occurred. He was just about to reveal himself and put some ease to his friend’s concerned face when he spotted a familiar girl attacking his friend with what he described as lovable calls.

He found it equally fascinating at how Changmin often found himself with that girl and how his friend seemed to be squirming like a lost boy not knowing how to respond when the opposite shows some sort of interest.

“Can you guys be less obvious~” He cooed while stepping out to display himself, hands folded along his chest and a glint of playfulness in his eyes.

“Victoria right? The one with the bra?”

“The one at the club you pabo...” Changmin nudged his friend forcefully before apologizing to the girl that stood awkwardly before the two.

“So you live here too I assume.”

“Your assumptions are correct then. Nothing short of expectations for a friend of the intelligent Shim Changmin,” she smiled bashfully.

Kyuhyun could just tell that the subtle comments meant more. Her every movement seemed like a flirtatious act to his eyes, but he knew that his friend was a step too late…always a tad slower. So he thought he'd help.

“How would you like to accompany my friend in the finishing touches on moving?”

“I’d love to. Any favour you have and I’ll be there to help!” She smiled widely, teeth gleaming.

“Perfect! Why don’t you both go now and I’ll head off and do some errands. Deal?” Kyuhyun flashed them a thumb up while guiding them out the dormitory complex.

 Changmin was unsure where this was going, his head constantly flashing back towards his friend who just smiled while waving goodbye.

“So where did you guys previously live?” Victoria asked while innocently looping her arm into his. His eyes grew large at her action, but he didn’t have the heart to pull away. Afterall, she was on her way to help him move things. He wasn't going to be a cole hearted bastard to a girl who sprinkled happiness everywhere.

Distracted by that one second, he missed the fact that while they walked off into the distance, Kyuhyun had scampered off excitedly back inside, headed straight to Sooyoung’s door.

--

She wasn’t expecting much when she answered the knocks. Cho Kyuhyun was the last thing she would have guessed to be standing there smiling and everything.

Sooyoung ran out before hastily closing the door behind her.

“What are you doing here?” She was whispering incredibly low not wanting the others inside to hear, a perfect excuse that allowed the awed boy to step in closer.

“I couldn’t wait to see you again,” he said frankly.

He was being straight forward and well basically honest. It was the truth, he just couldn’t wait.

“Where’s Chang-”

“Let’s go~” He wouldn’t let her finish. He reached for her thin wrist and off he went feeling like the richest son of a gun that walked planet earth as he had beside him, someone absolutely priceless.

Kyuhyun ran down the streets of Seoul carefree with a sense of rush flowing in every vein. He only stopped when they hit a red light or when he’d hear soft whimpers of exhaustion coming from the precious girl he held beside.

“Where are we going?” She could barely keep a stable breath now and her legs started to wobble. This time she held her grip around his arm with her free hand, the need of support being too extreme. Kyuhyun could only smile in accomplishment by her action, whether or not she was holding on because she wanted to or not didn't matter.

He gently guided the burnt out Sooyoung towards the nearest bench, assisting her to comfortably plop on down. They sat side by side in complete silence for a couple of minutes, the sounds of the heavy traffic being the only audible noise prancing in the calm air. He watched her slyly from the corners of his eyes, the way she scrunched her nose and fiddled with her phone with the tips of her thumbs.

“Waiting for a call?” He curiously asked breaking the ice. A simple small part of him found itself in a rage of jealousy over the electronic device for effortlessly stealing the attention of Sooyoung.

“Umm kinda. Maybe. Well I’m not even sure really…” She drew back her phone and shoved it in her pocket, twirling small strands of her locks with her finger.

There it was again; her cute charms shooting its way over towards him and straight into his heart. As corny as that may seem, it was exactly how he felt. Once more he found himself patting her gently on the head, her hair still as soft as he had remembered it to be.

“Gimme,” he answered back while motioning for her cell phone.

“What are you doing?” She scooted closer to him, squirming like an awkward squid trying to peek over his squared shoulders as to see what on earth the guy was doing.

“Secret~” Was all he would cooed out.

He returned it back onto her hands with and with a mysterious smile framed on his face he said, “Speed dial 3”.

Just as he had commanded, Sooyoung obeyingly did as told. In an instant the jingle of a soft tune filled the area. She eyed the source with the are-you-serious look as she playfully punched Kyuhyun.

“Why 3?”

“Because that’s what I feel…about you:

1. I
2. Like
3. You”

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

Her laugh rolled off her tongue in an awkward manner, trying to disguise the fact that she was utterly embarrassed by the spur of his confession-whether or not it was legit or not. She made every effort into stirring the conversation in a new way, a path she could handle but no words would form. The only idea left being one to attack him in a sudden game of silence the instant sound of the ringtone. She threw herself his way, attacking his every pocket laughing like a mad child searching for candy.

She had caught herself genuinely smiling at him, and the chunk of guilt at the bottom of her stomach for feeling so.

Kyuhyun didn’t mind at all the he failed to receive any sort of reaction for he shamelessly played along to her spontaneous acts, both going back and forth at each other…until it happened. Sooyoung had hit jackpot finding the gold at the end of the rainbow and so much more. Falling from the secure stitched pockets of his shirt, a frivolous loud ringing phone fell out and onto the swift hands of Sooyoung who caught it in a miraculous stance.

But then it came down right after, as if tired of hiding and waiting to be found.

Shim Changmin’s "lost" mobile descended to the floor, gravity pulling it down faster than the norm, its pieces breaking into shattered small bits at the base of Sooyoung’s feet.

Silence creeped its way present in the endless wave of unsettling emotions that were untold.

I hope it wasn’t important…

Kyuhyun thinks to himself of the unread message that was sent when he had found it while picking up the parts. He was flushed with bewilderment that he still had it…he was supposed to return it instantly, but had forgotten to do so along the way…somehow. Kyuhyun scolded himself for not being the pesky brat he usually is for not looking at the text message when he had the chance, but he respected his buddy’s privacy.  

He’d buy a new one, a brand spanking awesome illuminating new model…one where you could the screen because it’s ridiculously new.

And everything will be fine.

Kyuhyun looked up after cleaning the mess to find Sooyoung entangled with worried emotions.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

He patted her head for what seemed to be the nth time, “Shh…it’s alright…don’t worry.”

He pulled her up gently and flashed a reassuring smile, “Let’s go!”   

“To where?” She looked at him dumbfounded.

“To get you out of that baseball uniform,” He stuck out his tongue before grabbing her hand. This time, intertwining his fingers with hers.

That baseball uniform…something about it aggravated it in an unknown way.

He didn’t like it at all.

Not one bit.

It was a strange secret he would leave untold.